5 Times An Avenger Found Thor Relatable, and 1 Time They All Did
by elovejapan
Summary: Thor, as an alien/Norse thunder god, has amazing powers, strength and durability that makes him one of the most invincible members on the team. Therefore the team is always surprised to find that they have something that they can relate to with Thor. 5 1 fic.
1. 5 Respect for Female Warriors (Natasha)

**I think Thor needs some love. I don't see a lot of fics with Thor as the main character, especially hurt/comfort ones. I know he's pretty invincible, but hey, even he gets beaten up sometimes. This is the first time I've written a 5+1 fic, and I know that in the first chapter it's kind of hard to see how it is Natasha relating to Thor, but it was a story that I just had to write and wanted to include in this. I promise I will make the next chapters clearer. Also, sorry if Thor's speech doesn't seem right, and I'm not sure whether the role of women on Asgard is like that either, but Thor did say that people on Asgard scoffed at the idea of a maiden becoming a warrior. All that aside, please enjoy!**

 **~elovejapan**

* * *

 **Five times an Avenger found Thor relatable, and one time they all did**

Thor, as an alien/Norse thunder god, has amazing powers, strength and durability that makes him one of the most invincible members on the team. Therefore the team is always surprised to find that they have something that they can relate to with Thor.

* * *

 **5\. Respect for Female Warriors (Natasha)**

Natasha had collapsed in her bed at Avengers Tower when she returned from a particularly grueling mission one early afternoon, and even after sleeping from then to eight in the morning the next day, she still felt tired when she woke up. Or at least, her head felt tired. The rest of her did not seem content with going back to sleep. After a few failed attempts to return to sleep, she finally gave up and dragged herself out of bed, out of her room, and to the shared kitchen to brew herself some coffee.

"Ah, Lady Black Widow, you are awake at last!" boomed a familiar, _loud_ voice. Natasha rested her head in her hand. She did not have a hangover, but it was still _waaaaay_ too early in the morning for loud Norse gods. Thankfully, he seemed to be the only other one up.

"Mm," she grunted in acknowledgement as she gathered the items needed to make coffee. The thought crossed her mind to offer some to Thor, but when she turned to do so, she saw that he was eating Lucky Charms out of a salad bowl with a serving spoon, with some empty milk jugs and four (supposedly) empty cereal boxes cluttering the table. He was clearly wide awake, grinning from ear to ear and fidgeting slightly in his chair.

 _Definitely no coffee for him_ , Natasha thought to herself. She did not have the energy to find out what a Norse Thunder god on sugary cereal and coffee would be like, though she was certain it would be very irritating and probably destructive.

She realized Thor was talking. "What?" she asked. Damn, she was tired. Why wouldn't her body let her go back to sleep if she was still tired?

"I said, Lady Black Widow, how was your mission? Were you successful in your quest?"

Natasha quirked a smile in spite of herself. If she hadn't found what he last said funny, she probably would have given him a gruff "I'm here, aren't I?" Instead, she said, "It was good. Fine. It went well." Seeing a look on Thor's face that seemed a little confused, she said, "Sorry. I do not feel like jumping up and down in celebration over it, though I succeeded in completing it."

Thor flashed a blinding smile. "No need for an apology, Lady Black Widow. I have known comrades back in my home on Asgard that would call for feasts and music upon returning home in victory, whereas others would head straight to bed the moment they returned. Although, once they awake, they would call for feasts and music to celebrate."

"I guess you must be feasting everyday, then," Natasha mumbled.

"Indeed we do, Lady Black Widow!"

That was the fourth time he had called her 'Lady Black Widow,' and she was starting to get annoyed by it. "Could you please stop calling me that?"

"What?"

"'Lady Black Widow.'"

For some reason, she wasn't expecting Thor to do so, and was surprised when Thor smiled again and said, "Oh, certainly, if that is what you wish, L- um. I agree that Lady Black Widow is quite a mouthful. What would you prefer to be called? Lady Widow?" He paused, before going on with a sense of caution, "Lady Romanov? Lady Natasha?"

"Just 'Nat' is fine," Natasha said, pouring herself some coffee and walking over to the table. She tried not to feel sick at the sight of all the cereal boxes.

"All right then, Lady Natasha it is!" Thor exclaimed jovially.

"No. _Nat_."

"Okay," said Thor, a little subdued. "Lady Nat, then."

Natasha glared at him. "No, just _Nat_. No 'Lady.' It makes me sound like a damsel in distress."

"Oh." A worried expression crossed Thor's face. "Please accept my deepest apologies…Nat. I was merely attempting to be polite and to show my respect for you. You are most certainly not a damsel in distress!"

Natasha hid a smile. Her target from yesterday's mission would certainly agree with that statement- in fact, _he_ was the one in distress.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I suppose it's part of your culture. But here, whenever people use the term 'Lady', it conjures the image of helpless damsels stuck in towers or about to be eaten by monsters, or who don't fight and run to men for protection. But that's just what I think. I'm sure that the women at home aren't like that, right?"

Thor folded his arms. "Well… except for a few, the women at home don't participate directly in battle. They typically support us with magic. But that doesn't make them any less worth trifling with," he added hurriedly when he spotted the look on Natasha's face. "In any case, I do have the privilege of knowing personally one of the women who do engage directly in battle. My good sister-in-arms, Sif."

"You don't refer to her as 'Lady Sif?'" Natasha asked.

"Occasionally. But not often. We are close friends, and therefore do not use such formalities."

"So it's a formality where you're from?" Natasha demanded. "Like how we use Miss or Mrs. here?"

Thor froze, clearly realizing that he had stepped on a landmine somewhere. "Er…yes?"

"Then why are you calling me 'Lady Black Widow?'" Natasha leaned forward. "Aren't we friends? Or comrades-in-arms, as you like to say?"

"Of course we are!" Thor replied. "It's just…here on Midgard, the women seem to like it when I address them with the title of 'Lady.'" He gave a shy smile. "I think my beloved, Lady Jane, likes it too, though I address her as simply Jane as well."

Natasha smirked. She had met Dr. Jane Foster before, and found her kind as well as an intelligent and serious scientist, as well as stubborn and strong-minded… but of course, that didn't mean that she couldn't be one of the women out there who liked that sort of thing. For her part, Natasha didn't really care- as a femme fatale and former assassin, she was accustomed to using her womanly wiles to lure men in, and she had been called all sorts of sweet names, like "sugar" and "kitten," but as they were uttered by men who were her targets, the words might as well be dry leaves in the wind. She didn't know why she was feeling annoyed about being called 'Lady' by Thor- perhaps it was because he was not a target and was someone that she cared for.

"Well, all the women you've met may like to be called that, but some don't." she took another sip of coffee. "Like I said before, it brings to mind helpless women. I wouldn't be surprised if your friend Sif doesn't like being called 'Lady' for a similar reason."

Thor frowned and scrunched up his head, apparently contemplating her words. "Well, I must admit that I thought that when Sif became a warrior she wouldn't want to be addressed to as 'Lady' anymore. But that didn't happen. People still call her 'Lady Sif' and she doesn't seem to mind. It is my belief that she prefers it that way, that she wants to remind people that she is a woman, that she could become and is a great warrior. I hear others call her 'Lady Sif' and I remember that she is a woman, and then I remember her awesomeness all over again."

Natasha hid another smile. She wouldn't be surprised that, if Sif had feelings for Thor, she would want to be addressed as 'Lady Sif' for the last thing that Thor said. Still, she liked Thor's theory as well.

"You know what," she said, sitting up a little straighter, "I don't mind."

"What?"

"I don't mind if you address me as 'Lady Nat,'" Natasha clarified. "At least, when it comes from you, I know you won't be calling me that because you think I'm weak."

Thor barked out a laugh. "Lady Nat, how could I possibly think such a thing after we fought side by side as comrades-in-arms in that glorious Battle of Manhattan? And I could never think of a woman as weak after spending so many years fighting alongside my sister-in-arms Sif."

"This Sif certainly sounds like an amazing warrior. I'd like to meet her one day." Another sip of coffee.

Thor grinned widely. "Indeed, I would love to see that day. I believe the two of you would be good friends."

* * *

"Lady Nat, would you like some popcorn?" Thor asked, handing the popcorn bowl over to her. It was movie night, and the whole gang was in front of the TV.

Clint choked. "Lady _Nat_? Is that a nickname for her codename? Because you know, Thor, a black widow is a kind of spider, not a fly. And it's female mosquitos that suck blood, not-"

"Oh shut up," said Natasha, punching Clint on the shoulder.

"Ow!"

"In any case Thor, I'm sure that Natasha would appreciate it if you didn't call her 'Lady Nat.'" Steve told Thor.

"No don't worry, it's fine. I don't mind. I told him it's fine," Natasha protested.

Steve glanced at her. "You sure?"

"I'm sure."

"All right then," said Tony, coming over. "Here is your dry martini, Lady Nat."

Natasha glared at him as she took the glass. "Thanks, she said, "But only Thor can call me Lady Nat."

"As you wish, Lady Nat," said Tony mockingly.

Thor roared with laughter as he watched Natasha give Tony a kick to the face that he felt sure that Sif would appreciate.

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 **Please read and review!**


	2. 4 Old Dogs of War (Steve)

**Warning: This chapter contains what would probably be considered animal cruelty, though it is not excessive (well, the description isn't) and I tried to make up for it. I apologize if anyone finds this upsetting, and I assure you that the animals weren't hurt. I also do not condone nor encourage what was done to the animals.**

 **Author's note: Thanks for all the reviews and favorites! I'm surprised to see so many people following it already! I hope this chapter will not disappoint you!**

 **These Marvel characters do not belong to me, they belong to Marvel.**

 **4\. Old Dogs of War (Steve)**

Steve sighed, feeling exhausted but relieved.

It was over. The battle with a Hydra Octopus that had risen from the sea to attempt to take over the American military base on Okinawa in Japan was over. How Hydra had managed to build a giant metal octopus without anyone knowing in this age where privacy was a pipe dream, Steve wasn't sure, although the fact that it had come out of the sea made him think that perhaps Hydra had an underwater base. It wouldn't be the craziest thing he had encountered, and not even the craziest thing about Hydra that he had encountered. Hell, the mechanical octopus thing didn't seem very original after the videos of the super villain Doc Ock terrorizing the streets of New York.

Still, there was one last thing to take care of. The battle was over and the debriefing was over, but now Steve geared himself up for the almost routine Battle for the Infirmary, in which he took on the Herculean task of forcing some egotistical teammates to swallow their pride and/or dislike of hospitals and have some Shield doctors on the Helicarrier look at their injuries. Steve had noticed earlier that Tony was holding his side and walking stiffly, reminding him with an empathetic wince of the force of that one tentacle that had slammed him into the water. Clint had a few gashes and burns that came from lasers and bullets fired by the octopus. He had been circling the mechanical octopus in a flying scooter, keeping his eyes on the battlefield from above and looking for weak spots. Steve couldn't tell with Natasha- if she was hurt, she was hiding it well.

Thor, for his part, was unscathed. At worst, he had come out with what looked like the equivalent of a mat burn on his arm, but it was healing rapidly. Bruce wasn't with them; after the battle ended, he had passed out from exhaustion upon returning to his original form. He, as the Hulk, and Thor had really gone all out during the battle, and Steve was pretty sure that the two of them had an unspoken competition between them over who could destroy more of the octopus's mechanical arms and reach the main body first. The Hulk had taken a few hard hits, but he, like Thor, had recovered rapidly. Now he was under the watchful eyes of Miss Potts and Colonel Rhodes, so if Bruce did have any problems he would be well looked after.

Not having the energy to deal with another conflict, Steve decided to take a more subtle approach this time; instead of ordering them to the medical bay and starting up a storm of protests, he led the team down a "shortcut" to the hanger where the Quinjet was located, but really a route to the medical bay. He looked back every few minutes to check that Clint and Natasha were still there, as he was convinced that they probably knew the ship better than he did and would recognize where he was going.

"Cap, how much longer is this going to take?" Tony demanded. "I still want to see some of Okinawa when the sun is still out, you know." Steve had managed to ask Fury if they could delay their trip home by a few days, as he wanted to go out and see some of the country. Tony and Thor were eager to come along; Tony because he wanted to show Steve all the tourist attractions, and Thor because it was another part of Midgard that he had never seen before. Nat and Clint wanted to come too, but abstained, as they had another mission to prep for. Fury approved of it, and after the debriefing they had all decided to return to the Quinjet to retrieve a few things, although Steve had something different in mind.

"Hold your horses, Stark, we're almost there," Steve said. "Just around this corner and…here we are!"

There were a few exclamations of confusion when the group turned the corner and found themselves outside the medical bay.

"Do you need your eyesight checked, old man?" Tony snarked. "The sign out here says medical bay. Medical. Bay. Not the hanger or landing bay- _medical bay_."

"I know," said Steve, turning to the others, and feeling relieved when he saw that Clint and Natasha were still with them. "But I thought you'd better have your injuries treated first, Tony. You too, Clint."

"I am _fine_ ," argued Tony, taking a big breath as he prepared himself for an argument, then winced, clutching his side. Apparently the effort of inhaling had disturbed his ribs.

Steve folded his arms. "Yeah, I see. Let the nice doctors take a look at you, Tony."

Tony opened his mouth to protest again, but was impeded by Natasha pushing him through the door. "Just shut up and get in there, Stark." She turned to Clint. "Clint-"

"Only if you have your wrist looked at, Nat. Don't give me that look- I know when you're trying to hide it," Clint retorted. Natasha grimaced and unconsciously touched her left wrist. Steve was surprised- so Natasha _was_ injured. He wondered briefly if the two had known where they were going and had stayed with the group anyway in order to drag each other into the medical bay.

"Meet up with us when you're done, ok?" Steve said once he was sure that the others were well within the doctors' clutches.

"Cap, you traitor! Just wait till we're all done!" Tony yelled.

"Like you said, Tony, I want to see Japan while the sun's still out," Steve replied, turning around, only to nearly walk straight into Thor. "Sorry, Thor."

"No apologies necessary, Steven," Thor said, but he did not move aside, and he did not have much space on either side for Steve to squeeze through.

Steve was a little exasperated. "Could you please move, Thor?"

"Aren't you going into the healer's too, Steven?" Thor questioned. "You have a sprained ankle, do you not?"

Damn, how did he notice? Steve thought he had been hiding it pretty well. He opened his mouth to deny it, but Thor gave him a look- one that sent Steve back to his pre-serum days, when he was short, weak kid with a dozen health issues and glared at by Colonel Phillips. It was the kind of look that higher ranking, more experienced soldiers gave to less experienced ones; the kind that said that they knew when you were hiding something important. Thor's look was kinder than Colonel Phillips' though- Colonel Phillips' look, in his head, always said _Look kid, I've seen it all before, so quit bullshitting yourself and admit you have a problem._ Thor's said _You're not fooling me, my friend, I've seen it all before, so don't try to hide it from me._

Something in Thor's eyes made Steve realize, in that moment just how _old_ Thor really was. Tony was always calling _him_ old man, but come on, Thor and his kind were worshipped by Vikings in the Middle Ages! People were always looking up to him for his part in the war, but his few years of battle experience probably paled in comparison to Thor's, who had been around for centuries. In all that time he undoubtedly also became experienced in figuring out when one of his teammates- or as Thor called them, shield-brothers- was hurt and trying to hide it.

"Steve, you have an injury and you didn't say anything?" Natasha asked.

"Wait, he's hurt too? You fucking hypocrite!" Tony yelled.

"Oh, hush," Steve snapped. "Look, I have an accelerated healing factor, all right? I'll be fine."

"Yes, Steven, but surely you should have the healers check to make sure it is healing correctly?" Thor pointed out. "We Asgardians heal quickly as well, but if our limbs are not lined up correctly there are gruesome consequences. The healers have told me many stories of such cases-"

"Ok, ok, you don't have to tell me." Steve was not in the best mood to listen to such stories.

"Well, look who's decided to grace us with his presence," Tony said mockingly as Steve entered the medical bay.

* * *

Steve was only in the medical bay for a few minutes. After looking the injury over and running a few tests, the doctors decided that it wasn't bad and healing well, but insisted on putting on a brace in case Steve tried to do something more extraneous. Under Thor's watchful eye, Steve grudgingly acquiesced. Tony made a big deal out of it, while the others hid grins, but Steve didn't care. He still was the first to walk out of the medical bay.

Normally Steve would have stayed and waited for the others, but as their injuries weren't life-threatening, he didn't feel like he had to worry. He was eager to see Japan for himself before Stark ruined it by telling him all about the more sordid things about the country, which Steve had no doubt that Tony would know. He already knew one sordid thing about this country, and he was curious as to how Japan had come out of that, especially since he never had the chance to assist the Allies on the Pacific front. He had never been to Japan before. Back in his day the newspapers and bookstores sold items with photos of the country, though during the war most of them were of Japanese soldiers or army or navy related. But he still remembered photos of women in kimonos, young schoolboys in black high-buttoned uniforms and caps, wooden buildings with sliding paper doors and tiled roofs. Looking around, as he made his way down the street with Thor in civilian dress, he could see that everything was much more modern and up to date- some buildings were now made of concrete or brick or glass, but in a nook and cranny here and there was a wooden shrine or a building with paper doors, and there was an occasional woman here and there wearing a kimono- most of them were in Western dress. Most of the roofs were tiled, and there were a few schoolboys wearing those old school uniforms, but without the cap. They were familiar, yet Steve wondered just how much of it was like that back in the 1940s. He wouldn't ever know.

"I never knew you were so eager to see this country," Steve said to Thor.

"Indeed, it gives me great pleasure to see more of Midgard," Thor replied.

"Yeah, so I've heard. Didn't you go to Scandinavia last week?"

"Aye, with my good friend Dr. Selvig. Ages have passed since I was last there, and I wanted to see the place again, to see what has changed and what is still the same."

Steve's smile at that was a little melancholy. He could understand that. "What did you think?"

"It has changed very much. The buildings are more like those in America, and the people wear the same clothes. No feasting, no sharpening of weapons or wars. Too quiet. Dr. Selvig guided me to several museums and castles, but it was somewhat boring."

For a battle-loving idiot like Thor, Steve could imagine. "Sounds like you were disappointed."

"Oh, I didn't say that. There are plenty of people there who still love to drink like their ancestors did! The doctor and I passed much of our time visiting the alehouses and making merry."

 _Dear God_ , Steve thought to himself. Thor could hold his liquor like no one else can- he could even give Steve a run for his money, and with his super-soldier serum Steve was difficult to beat. He wondered how many bars he'd been kicked out of there, and if he had started any drunken bar brawls. Then again, if that had happened, he was pretty sure that he would've heard of it. Then again…

"This country seems very similar," Thor commented, glancing around. "Ever since I encountered the passion and fighting spirit in those television shows that Tony calls 'anime,' I have been eager to visit this place. But…"

"Hoping to see a samurai or a ninja, huh?" Steve said with a grin. He didn't expect to see such things now. The samurai warriors were long gone even before the 1940s, but Steve remembered that the Japanese encouraged a fierce samurai spirit in their military. "Yeah, I've seen those shows too. I found them kind of disturbing, but Tony told me that the Japanese are probably just channeling all their fighting instincts into that stuff- not that I know whether that's really the case. He said that the Japanese were pretty subdued after the atom bombs were dropped, and the country tends to act as a staunch peace activist nowadays."

"Indeed, much like the Scandinavian countries. They have changed much from the olden days." Thor was quiet for a brief moment before saying, "But that is good! My father once fought to conquer the Nine realms, but realized that it would be better for us to work towards peace. In the peacetime, my people have certainly flourished. It is good to see these once-fierce countries have also received this blessing and have flourished as well."

Steve smiled. He had felt the same when he went to Germany to stop Loki. The Nazis and Hydra certainly did terrible things during the war, but the rest of the people didn't deserve to suffer from their actions- especially people like Dr. Erskin, who were forced to do those terrible things.

"Halt, Steven," Thor commanded. "Something delicious is about." Steve snorted as Thor followed his nose to a stall selling grilled squid. He came back with several skewers in each big hand, proffering one to Steve. Steve hesitated, as he never had grilled squid before, then took it. He chuckled, thinking that what he was about to eat now was not so different from the machine that they had battled earlier.

"Hail to my stomach, Hydra," he said, before taking a bite while Thor choked on his own squid due to laughter. "This is really good," he said turning to the stall owner. " _Arigato*_."

The stall owner grinned and waved his hand dismissively. " _Douitashimashite_ ," he replied.

Steve frowned, confused. Thor noticed.

"What is wrong, Steven?" He asked, concerned. "Is the squid not to your liking?"

"No, it's good," Steve replied. "I just don't understand why that guy told me not to touch his mustache. He doesn't even have one."

"What are you talking about, Steven? He never said anything about a mustache."

Steve turned to face Thor. "Doesn't 'douitashimashite' mean 'don't touch my mustache'?"

"No, it means 'you're welcome'." Thor looked confused for a minute before he relaxed, breaking into a grin. "But it does sound like 'don't touch my mustache!' HA HA HA! Excellent joke Steven, it was quite amusing!"

"It wasn't a joke," Steve protested. "And anyway, you can speak Japanese?"

Thor shrugged. "Back in my days in the Learning hall, we were taught the languages of all the Nine Realms."

"Oh." Steve blushed with embarrassment. Thor was an alien from another world. Of course he wouldn't speak the same language. Come to think of it, if Thor had learned these languages when he was a child, perhaps this was why his English sounded so old-fashioned.

"Damn you, Morita," he muttered under his breath as he and Thor continued down the street.

"Morita?" Of course Thor would bear him.

Steve waved a hand. "Jim Morita. An old friend of mine who was part of my team back in World War II. He was Japanese-American with immigrant parents and grew up speaking the language. He taught us some Japanese to help us in case the higher-ups ever decided to send us to the Pacific front." He sighed. "Though now I wonder how much of it was accurate."

"You think mayhap he was trying to deceive you?"

Steve shook his head. "No, no, it was probably just a joke. Jim always loved a good joke. Come to think of it, he always looked like he was trying not to laugh when the rest of our team tried to practice Japanese…" He chuckled at the memory.

"It was a clever joke!" Thor exclaimed. "Your friend sounds very amusing. Where does he dwell now?"

Steve's face fell. "He's…dead. Died before I came out of the ice."

Thor's face was sympathetic. "I see." He was quiet for a beat before he spoke up again. "I do not with to pain you, Steven, but…did he die in battle?"

"No, thankfully," Steve replied. "I heard that he survived World War II. He got married and settled down afterwards. One of his descendants is the principal of a high school in New York."

"Ah, so he survived! I wish I could have met him even more now; he must have been a great warrior in order to survive a war as great in scale and violence as your world's World War II."

Steve smiled again. "Yeah, he was a good soldier. A good ally and a good friend."

"He reminds me of another shield brother I had battled alongside before- Bjorn, his name was. He wasn't as mischievous as my brother Loki, but he loved to play pranks from time to time."

"Really?"

"Indeed! Once, when I was much younger and brasher, I asked my father if I could borrow his magnificent steed Sleipnir to ride on a certain challenging quest of mine…" Thor preceded to tell Steve the story in great detail, in which he, upset when his father refused him, complained to the companions accompanying him on the quest very bitterly and claiming that he had always wanted to ride an eight-legged horse. His friend Bjorn, who was one of them, told him with a straight face that there were plenty of eight-legged horses around and he could go get one for Thor if he wished him to. Thor was surprised and of course disbelieving, for it was always said that there was no horse like Sleipnir, but told him to get an eight-legged horse anyway. Two hours later, Bjorn returned with the so-called "eight-legged horse" in tow, which actually turned out to be two horses tied together, and sent Thor and his company into howls of laughter.

Thor roared with laughter at the memory, and Steve joined in as well, as he found his image of someone trying to do such a thing in the first place rather funny. He didn't find it quite as funny as Thor seemed to, for the Asgardian was wiping tears from his eyes.

"I suppose that in your eyes, it may not seem as amusing as it is to me," Thor said when he had recovered his breath. "However, we were about to embark on a rather difficult quest, and there was a great feeling of uneasiness in the air. We were…well, nervous, though we tried to hide it. Bjorn's little joke helped break the tension."

Steve snorted at the idea that Bjorn's joke was "little" in any way. "I feel sorry for the horses though."

"Indeed, it was not kind to the horses. We cut them loose and gave them some extra treats as an apology. Nonetheless, Bjorn was able to get them to walk perfectly in tandem when he had tied them together, so that they wouldn't trip over each other. How he did it I will never know."

"I don't think it's that difficult, but you could always ask him," Steve pointed out.

Thor gave him a pained smile and shook his head. "I'm afraid that my good shield-brother Bjorn now feasts in Valhalla, and is beyond my reach."

"You mean he's dead?" Steve asked.

"Verily. He did not die on our quest that time- no, he died fighting some Frost Giants a few of your centuries later." He did not go on, and Steve guessed that it must hurt to talk about his old friend.

"It's hard to talk about dead comrades, huh?" Steve commented. "You remember all the good times you had with them, and you wish they were here to share your good times of now."

"Aye, remembering them is painful," Thor agreed. "But, we always share stories of our old comrades back on Asgard. I remember them and their great and mighty deeds and feel proud to have fought alongside them."

"Amen to that," Steve replied. "Perhaps you would like to share more of that story about this difficult quest you had?"

"Why certainly!" Thor stopped at the entrance of what looked like a bar. "Come, Steven," he said, jabbing a thumb towards the inside, "let us try this Japanese wine the Japanese call 'sake' and tell tales of our good friends and their glorious deeds."

Steve grinned. "Sure, why not." And that was were Tony, dragging along a reluctant Banner, found them, drinking sake and laughing over memories of days gone by.

* * *

*thank you

* * *

 **Author's note: Bjorn's story is one that I made up completely. Also, the 'douitashimashite" joke was one that my mom came up with a long time ago, in which she said that the phrase sounded a lot like 'don't touch my mustache.'**

 **Please read and review!**


	3. 3 Control (Bruce)

**Author's note: Sorry this took so long. I wrote and scrapped this chapter several times before I came up with something that I liked. Even now, I may want to change this again, but I think I'll give this a whirl and I'd like to hear what you think, if you have any ideas for making this better.**

 **Thanks for all the reviews!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers. They belong to rightfully to Marvel. I don't own Jenga, either.**

* * *

 **3\. Control (Bruce)**

Bruce sat up, groaned and stretched, feeling stiff, dry and tired. He then pushed his glasses up and rubbed his eyes. After squinting at slides in microscopes all day, his eyes felt ready to pop out.

"That's it, I'm calling it a day," he groaned. "JARVIS, what time is it?"

"It is 4:22 pm, Doctor Banner."

Bruce's stomach growled loudly.

"Great, I missed lunch," Bruce groaned. He was starting to pick up some bad habits from Tony. "Who's making dinner tonight?"

"I believe it will be takeout, Doctor," JARVIS replied as Bruce fixed himself a cup of water.

"Takeout?"

"The team went out on a mission earlier this afternoon. Therefore there is a great probability that they will be too tired to make dinner upon their return."

"Oh." Bruce took a sip of his water before spitting it out in realization. "Wait, the team went on a mission and I wasn't informed?"

"You were informed, Doctor. However, considering your present reaction and your response of 'oh, ok,' to the news, I hypothesize that you were too absorbed with your work to pay attention. Sir gets like that sometimes."

"Well...uh..."

"As this mission did not require Doctor Banner nor the Hulk, I did not believe that it expedient to ensure you knew. Would you prefer-,"

"No, no, it's fine, JARVIS," Bruce interrupted. "Just let me knew if there are any major developments. Anyway, what was today's mission?"

"The team went to apprehend the Wrecking Crew, a group of four men that broke out of prison," Jarvis replied, throwing up some holograms that included photos and profiles on the Wrecking Crew.

"Mm-hm," Bruce grunted, scanning through the information quickly. They looked like low-level supervillians, but considering their abilities and their record of causing major destruction, Bruce decided that it might make some sense to send the Avengers after them. "What's the status?"

"The Wrecking Crew has been incapacitated and are now being returned into custody, along with the Trapster."

"The Trapster?"

"Apparently, the Trapster helped them escape, and was using them as a distraction while he robbed the First National Bank," JARVIS explained. A few videos popped up, showing videos of the battle, no doubt taken by the Iron Man armor.

Bruce put away the videos. If the battle was already over, there was no point watching them. "Where is everybody now?"

"The team is currently helping SHIELD bring them in and assisting in cleanup. However, Thor has already returned half an hour ago."

Bruce frowned. "Why would he be back already? Doesn't he usually participate in cleanup?"

"Thor was ordered back to the Tower by Captain Rogers, Doctor. Apparently he caused a great deal of property damage in the fight, and was sent back here, as the rest of the team felt he would cause more problems if he stayed."

Curious, Bruce reopened the file with the videos. He winced as he observed footage of Thor throwing one man with a huge ball-and-chain into a building, whacking another man in a metal helmet and orange jumpsuit with his hammer, then throwing his hammer at a man in a purple mask and pushing him into a car so hard he overturned it, before throwing a wild punch at the last man, which sent him straight into a telephone pole and knocked it down. As the group recovered and charged back into the fight, more such damage occurred.

"I see what they mean," Bruce remarked. Hulk usually caused a lot more damage, but even for Thor this much was unnecessary. He wondered why Thor was taking them all on by himself.

"Thor is currently in the living room adjoining the kitchen," Jarvis said.

"Just where I was going," Bruce replied, putting away the footage once more. he felt he should watch some more of this, but right now he was starving. He hoped Thor hadn't eaten everything by the time he got there.

The kitchen looked miraculously untouched when Bruce arrived, which surprised him. Usually Thor went on an eating binge after a battle, a reality that Bruce was painfully aware of, since he also got famished when he reverted back to himself after going green. The two often got into fights over food if there wasn't enough- though the fights usually ended before they pushed Bruce's limits.

Bruce took his chances and grabbed a bag of potato chips from the pantry, before noticing Thor in the adjoining living space, sitting cross-legged on the floor, staring blankly out the windows against which heavy rain beat ruthlessly.

"Thor?" he called out softly. He moved closer, and noticed that the living room was a bit of a mess. Thor's hammer looked like it had be dropped carelessly on a chair, his cape was in a heap on the coffee table, and his armor lay disassembled in scattered pieces on the ground. As he was taking this in, Bruce also noticed a small clump of metal and wires on the coffee table. Taking a closer look, he caught a whiff of ozone and noticed that the little bits of metal and wires looked scorched, like they were…

"I used my lightning today," Thor said, making Bruce jump. He had been unusually quiet. "This… 'communicator' Stark made me was overwhelmed by it."

There was a beat of silence, before Bruce cleared his throat awkwardly. "Well, uh… Tony…really should have thought of that."

"My communicator was scorched near the beginning of the battle. I did not realize it at first. The other Avengers made a plan, but I did not know it and…"

"Made a mess," Bruce finished for him.

Thor sighed. "Yes."

"Does this have something to do with why you took all four of this 'Wrecking Crew' by yourself?" When Thor shot him a slightly puzzled look, Bruce added, "Jarvis showed me footage Tony recorded in the battle. You, uh…really… well, they looked tough and all, but I don't think that you needed to go all out on them."

"Indeed, they… were not worth my strength nor my time," Thor said reluctantly.

"Then…" Bruce hesitated, then came around to sit next to Thor. "Something…set you off?"

"'Set me off?'" Thor repeated.

"Made you angry."

Thor was silent for a few minutes, then finally said, "No. Nothing set me off, Banner."

"So…what? You just went all out like that because you _felt like it_?" Bruce demanded.

Thor turned away, apparently ashamed.

Bruce was at a loss for words. He knew Thor loved a good fight, but still, he expected him to know better. "Well," he said, but found himself speechless. After a few aborted attempts to speak, he stood up and said, "Well… I… you know what, I'll just let Steve handle this. I don't…"

"I thought you would understand, Banner," Thor intoned softly.

Bruce stopped at the elevator, then turned around, a look of complete bewilderment on his face. "Me? Wha- I – I don't go looking for a fight! I-I don't even like fighting! Fighting is what the Hulk likes to do!"

"That wasn't my meaning, Banner," Thor interrupted. "I mean, I believe you'd understand…what it's like, to always be holding back."

"I don't-." Bruce began, but something in Thor's words struck a chord in him. He sighed again and paced a few tight circles before taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes. He turned back to Thor. "You mean how I always hold back the Hulk?"

"Or your anger," Thor added. "You…you must always be careful, because if you aren't, someone or something you care about gets hurt or destroyed."

" _I know that_ ," retorted Bruce testily, with the annoyance and exasperation of a person who has been told something that they know by heart multiple times.

"I wasn't…not really… talking about you…" Thor trailed off awkwardly.

There was another silence.

Bruce blinked. "Oh."

"Because my people, the Asgardians, are quite strong, everything on Asgard is made of particularly strong material. I have little to fear on Asgard, but here…" Thor sighed, looking over to the sad remains of his fried communicator. "Everything is…weak. Fragile. I find myself consistently having to watch my strength, even more so than I had to on any other of the Nine Realms."

Bruce waited, but Thor had stopped there. "Yeah, well…" he leaned against the counter. "…that's no excuse."

Thor's head swiveled around to face him, appearing hurt and angry, but Bruce kept going, walking back to Thor as he did so. "I mean, look, I get it, all right? I know what it's like to hold back all the time. I always have to watch myself. I can't get angry, because someone's always going to get hurt if I do, and something will definitely be destroyed, and that will just make everything more difficult for the people left to pick up the pieces. It's just- I know. It's rough."

Thor nodded. "Exactly," he said as Bruce took a seat next to him. "It becomes frustrating, does it not?"

Bruce gave him a questioning glance.

"You know," Thor prompted. "You want to stop holding back all the time. You want to release your strength- or in your case, your anger- without worrying about the consequences."

Bruce sighed- again. "But I can't. You know why."

"Which is why it's frustrating," Thor replied. "I fight because I love the thrill of battle, and because I can release all my strength against my enemies."

"Yeah, but you can't do that all the time," Bruce pointed out. "Look, it's one thing when they're otherworldly aliens- no offense- or one of your metal suits trying to destroy a town; it's another when they're human criminals trying to steal stuff. Yeah, they did bad stuff, but they have a right to a trial. Which means you can't really… you know… kill them."

Thor lowered his head. "I know."

Bruce exhaled, feeling some sympathy for the god in front of him. As he had said earlier, he did understand what it was like to always hold back and to want to unleash it all. But there was a difference between them; once the Hulk came out, Bruce couldn't control him, whereas Thor's strength was present, and therefore in his control, all the time. He envied Thor a little- to have so much natural strength, and still have his morals and conscious mind present to control it. But then, Thor would always be aware of what he was doing. Bruce, at least, was not aware of what happened when he was the Hulk, though that didn't save him from facing the aftermath. But Thor would be able to remember what he did, and would deal with the torture of asking himself what he could have done differently. To remember or not remember what he was doing before the aftermath- Bruce still wasn't sure which was better. However, it clearly took its toll on Thor. Bruce didn't know the whole story yet, but the fight must have caused a lot of unnecessary damage and he probably got chewed out by Steve and maybe even Director Fury for it if Thor seemed this down about it.

Bruce stayed still, not sure whether to move or not. He looked around the room, trying to think of what to say, when something caught his eye.

He stood up. "Let's play a game."

"A what?" Thor said, looking up, a bit startled from his gloominess.

"A game." Bruce walked over to the right side of the room, where various games were piled up next to the TV. He moved a few games around before he got to the one he wanted. He returned to Thor, carrying a big wooden box.

Thor furrowed his brow in bewilderment as Bruce poured out several long, thin wooden blocks. "What sort of game is this?"

"It's called 'Jenga,'" Bruce replied. "It's a game that involves constructing, destructing and reconstructing."

"You mean…building and destroying?"

"And rebuilding, yeah," Bruce said. He grabbed the block tray and started to build. Thor reached for one of the blocks, but Bruce took it before he did. "Hold on. All the blocks will be used in this tower."

Thor frowned. "What is this game, exactly?"

"Well," Bruce said as he continued to build, "Jenga involves two player or more. The game starts when the tower is built. Each player takes a turn removing a block from the tower and putting it somewhere else on the tower. They have to do this without knocking over the tower. If you knock it over, you lose. Also, if you don't try to move a block within ten seconds on your turn, you lose. The game ends when the tower falls over, and whoever was the last person to successfully move a block without knocking the tower over wins."

Thor stared at Bruce's tower with some trepidation. "I do not think I am well suited for this game."

"Don't be like that," Bruce protested. "Think of it as training. I know that it's frustrating for you to hold back all the time, but I think part of the reason you're frustrated is because you don't know _how much_ to hold back. I had a hard time figuring that out when I first became the other guy. Maybe you could figure out how far your limits go- on the downward end of the scale, that is. And if you figure out how much strength you need for something, you can conserve your strength for later."

Thor looked somewhat intrigued. "Did this game help you figure out how much to hold back to avoid becoming the Hulk?"

"Not exactly," Bruce replied, nearly finished with the tower. "In the earlier days, I took it up when I was trying to find ways to calm down and stay calm. I found this game useful to take my mind off of things and redirect my focus, because it made me concentrate so much on not destroying the tower." He placed the last block on the top. "Ok. Now, I'll take the first move." He peered closely at the tower, then, very carefully, very gingerly, he poked a block a few layers down from the top, making it jut out on the other side. He placed the block on top of the tower. "When you put the blocks back on the tower, they have to face the opposite direction of the blocks on the layer below it. You can't take blocks from the top layer, and you must use one hand a time when moving the blocks."

"All right," Thor said, reaching out a hand. His finger shook a little. Then, with the look of someone who decided to grit his teeth and get something unpleasant over with, he jabbed one large finger at one of the outer blocks on one of the layers.

The entire tower fell over.

They were silent for a beat, Thor looking embarrassed and Bruce looking like he was trying not to… oh, screw it.

He couldn't help himself. His body began to shake while he emitted some sort of noise.

Thor looked alarmed. "B-banner? Bruce? Doctor Banner? I- I'm…"

Then he realized that Banner's noise was not sobbing, nor growling in anger, but-

Thor leaned back a bit, startled, when Banner's head came up suddenly, and he was shocked to find that Bruce was _laughing_.

Typically, Thor would've felt insulted, but something about the situation just made him feel like laughing too. Great bellows of laughter rang throughout the tower as the two men laughed till they cried, breaking through some of Thor's gloominess.

"Oh- oh ho," Bruce gasped, lifting his glasses and wiping his eyes. "Sorry, Thor, it's just- that was- that was fast! Quickest game of Jenga ever!"

"You're- you're not mad?" Thor said, calming down a little. From Bruce's reaction, he probably wasn't but Thor couldn't help asking anyway.

Bruce shot him a fervent grin. "No, of course not. After all, I won." He jabbed a finger at himself.

Something about that irritated Thor. Yes, this game wasn't something he was good at, but still…

…he _hated_ losing.

"Let's play again," Thor said, gathering up the blocks.

"Really?" Bruce was a little surprised. He thought Thor might not want to continue. But then, even though he had destroyed the tower, there weren't any major consequences, and no one was hurt. It was kind of part of the reason why Bruce himself liked this game.

Thor smiled fiercely. "Did you think I wouldn't want to play another?"

"Well, you weren't so eager before…"

"No challenge is too much for the almighty Thor," Thor proclaimed, prompting Bruce to turn away and stuff a fist in his mouth. "Is it too much for you, Banner?"

"Too much? I just kicked your ass!" Bruce choked, still trying not to laugh.

"Oh, it's on," Thor said fiercely, grabbing more blocks.

Bruce chuckled, glad to see his friend back to himself once more.

* * *

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